WILLOW GROVE, PA, July 08, 2009
/24-7PressRelease/ -- Finger Lakes native and 1987 Romulus Central School graduate Mark Hubman drew inspiration for his novel, "Dearest Issabella," during a family trip to countryside reminiscent of the farmland he grew to know and love as a young child.
But, unlike the vineyards that dot the roadways along Cayuga Lake, Hubman's introduction to another countryside - in Gettysburg, Pa. - taught him more about history than horticulture. He credits an outgoing tour guide with sparking his interest in the Civil War, and ultimately leading him to write "Dearest Issabella," a romance/historical fiction novel. "Since I was young and seemed enthusiastic about learning, the tour guide took a special interest in me," Hubman recalls of his first Gettysburg trip. "He was just so engaging, and he himself was enthusiastic about it. I got interested in history just from that experience."
A 1998 Messiah College graduate, Hubman practically lived on the Gettysburg battlefield during his college years in Grantham, Pa. During frequent visits to the "hallowed ground," he hiked the same trails that soldiers had so many years before and peered across the same grassy fields where decades before, the war that pitted brother against brother had played out.
Now, years later, his experiences learning and reliving the Civil War have brought Hubman full circle and led to the completion of his first published novel, "Dearest Issabella," a romance/historical fiction. Although the work is set in present day Philadelphia, Hubman breathes new life into the Civil War era via character Samuel Ripley, a Union soldier, who amid bloody battles, had penned heartfelt love letters to his wife, Issabella. More than 140 years later, character Cassandra Losch looks to the letters for answers in her own life, which is in shambles because of her husband Jake's deployment to Afghanistan.
Hubman notes a definite, if not obvious parallel between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as compared to the Civil War. "The wars are still being fought by people who have families at home," Hubman said. "The soldiers want to be home. They want the war to be over. But they also want the war to be over in a successful way. My character in the book who was fighting in the Civil War mentioned several times that he wanted the next battle to be the last one, but only if the Union army had won the war as a result."
"Dearest Issabella" focuses equally on romance and historically accurate facts, making the novel a bit of a departure from typical Civil War book fare. "I'd read a lot of Civil War books and there just seemed to be something missing," Hubman said. "I had gotten all the facts down, but I was interested in the inner lives of the soldiers themselves. Since I didn't find one in all the books that I read, I decided I'd try to write one."
In early 2008, the idea for "Dearest Issabella" was born. And, by May 2009, during the bicentennial celebration for the birth of Hubman's favorite President, Abraham Lincoln, "Dearest Isabella" was published.
While much of the book is centered on our nation's conflicts, both then and now, the message Hubman would like to get across most lies more in the roots of his own deep-seated passion. "Love is timeless," he said. "Being in love today and being in love 140 years ago is still the same. The language is the same. The feelings are the same. The emotions are the same."
Editor's note: "Dearest Issabella" is available for purchase on http://www.amazon.com and http://www.barnesandnoble.com. To schedule an interview with author Mark Hubman, or to request press copies of "Dearest Issabella," contact Theresa Katalinas at 215-519-8833 or tkatalinas@yahoo.com.
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